It is common place for fences and lattices to be made of wooden boards or slats that are nailed together. This is an expensive procedure and fences or lattices made from wood do not lend themselves to be mass-produced. Moreover, to alter their height or width, for example, the wooden boards must be cut with a saw, which for some individuals is a difficult and inconvenient task. To color the fences or lattices, the wooden boards must be painted.
This invention has several features, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this invention as expressed by the claims that follow, its more prominent features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled, xe2x80x9cDETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS,xe2x80x9d one will understand how the features of this invention provide its benefits, which include, but are not limited to, low cost manufacture, ease of installation and use, durability, elimination of painting, and flexibility.
The first feature of the structure of this invention is that it has intersecting strips that all lie in the same plane and wherein the structure is made from a sheet of corrugated-like plastic material by die cutting this sheet. The structure may, for example, be a fence or a lattice.
The second feature is that, when the structure is a fence, it comprises a pair of spaced apart cross supports and a series of pickets that intersect the cross supports at an angle of about 90xc2x0. The cross supports and pickets all lie in substantially the same plane and are formed from a single sheet of the corrugated-like plastic material.
The third feature is that, when the structure is a lattice, it comprises a plurality of slats intersecting each other at an angle of about 90xc2x0. The slats lie in substantially the same plane and are formed from a single sheet of the corrugated-like plastic material.
The fourth feature is that the sheet of corrugated-like plastic material comprises a pair of substantially flat members spaced apart by spacers. The flat members have a thickness of from about {fraction (1/64)} to about {fraction (1/32)} inch. The spacers are also thin having have a thickness of from about {fraction (1/64)} to about {fraction (1/32)} inch. They are in parallel and they all have the same width to form between the flat members a series of parallel channels. The width of the spacers is from about xe2x85x9 to about xe2x85x9c inch and they are separated by a distance of from about xe2x85x9 to about xc2xc inch. In the fence, the parallel channels extend lengthwise along the length of the pickets. In the lattice, the channels are at an angle of 45xc2x0 with respect to the longitudinal axis of individual slats. The corrugated-like plastic material typically has a, sheet thickness of from about xe2x85x9 to about xe2x85x9c inch, and an area of from about 4 to about 24 square feet. A suitable sheet material is sold under the trademark Coroplast(trademark), manufactured by OS Plastics of Fullerton, Calif. It is polypropylene-based copolymer and it comes in several different colors. Therefore does not need to be painted. It is durable, lightweight, reusable, and weather-resistant. It may also be easily flexed or bent along the channels to form curved structures. Ordinarily, it is not bent across the spacers or channels, because this would permanently deform the material.
This invention also includes a method of manufacturing a structure such as a fence or lattice. The method of making a fence comprises cutting a single sheet of corrugated-like plastic material to form from the sheet a pair of cross supports and intersecting pickets that are in the same plane. The method of making a lattice comprises cutting a single sheet of corrugated-like plastic material to form intersecting slats that are in the same plane.
This invention also includes a method of constructing a fence by (a) providing at least two fence sections where each fence section comprises a plurality of slats intersecting each other, said slats lying in substantially the same plane and being formed from a single sheet of corrugated-like plastic material where the corrugated-like plastic material comprises a pair of substantially flat members spaced apart by spacers that are in parallel to form between the flat members a series of parallel channels, each fence section having side edges, (b) positioning the two fence sections next to each other with their respective side edges abutting each other and the fence sections oriented substantially at a right angle to ground level, and (c) providing a connector that has a pair of parallel legs and inserting one leg into a channel in each fence section.
In this method the connector is U-shaped, and preferably the connector legs are substantially longer than the height of the fence sections. Preferably, legs have lower ends that are forced into the ground after passing through the channels. The fence sections preferably are of equal height.